Water from Awoonga Dam still wasted

RETIRED engineer Len Woodman said extending the Awoonga Dam to Callide Dam pipeline would achieve some water saving, but a lot would still be wasted.

The Queensland Government recently allocated $18.3 million to extend the pipeline by another 14.9 kilometres to the top of the range between the two dams.

A State Government spokesperson said the pipeline would supply the Callide power stations with a reli-able water resource.

The pipeline extension is expected to save 3000 megalitres of water a year estimated to be lost through evaporation and seepage.

But Mr Woodman, formerly a Gladstone City Council engineer, said a considerable amount of water would still be wasted because about 14 kilometres, from the end of the new pipeline to the Callide Dam, would remain unpiped.

This is because the completed pipeline would spill its water into Stag Creek Gorge at the top of the range to flow by open channel to the Callide Dam.

Mr Woodman said evaporation and seepage would continue to bring about water loss.

He also criticised the preferred option drawn up for the Gladstone Area Water Board for supplementing the Gladstone area water supply which is to pipe water from the Fitzroy River to Gladstone.

'It's crazy to do that while the Awoonga Dam was still sending water to the Callide Dam.

'The Callide power stations are much nearer to the Fitzroy River than Gladstone is anyway, so why not pipe it there straight off and save the water in the dam for Gladstone?'

Mr Woodman said the Government needed to monitor the level of the water losses and report the results regularly to the people of the Gladstone area.